Chinese Private Firm OneSpace Launches First Space Rocket

A Chinese private firm OneSpace launched a locally-made space rocket from a launch center in northwest China. 

"Chongqing Liangjiang Star," launched at 7:33 a.m., was developed by a Beijing-based private company with a manufacturing base in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. 

"This is the first commercial rocket developed by our company," Xinhua quoted Shu Chang, founder and CEO of OneSpace as saying. 

The nine-meter-long, 7,200-kg rocket has a maximum altitude of 38.74 kilometers and a top speed of more than 5.7 times the speed of sound. 

It can travel for around five minutes, or 273 kilometers, according to Shu. 

Established in August 2015, OneSpace is China's first private company with a license to develop carrier rockets. The company has two rocket series, the OS-X and the OS-M.